When I see I hear sounds; when I see images I hear music. When I walk on stairs I hear future sounds of how someone falls. When someone sits in a car, I hear the engine start before the key is turned in the ignition switch.

Future Sound. Funny word. Now it is in my dictionary anyway.

Then it can be completely silent, as with this image 👇🏻. Or, silently it never gets but here I only hear emptiness and whisper.

I like how sounds and images interact with me. It has been so as long as I can remember. Therefore, I can’t stop telling you how much fun it has been with the photo project We share vocal cords. I have saved some Instagram stories as highlights where you can see the images from the project together with the accompanying songs.

I think you do the same, that is, interact images with sounds. In any case, if you hear a sound, you see images. Imagine hearing “muuu” followed by *crash *. Then you see that a cow has just run through your plot and and pushed down your coffee set that you just placed on your new table. Maybe, anyway.

/ Therese, who is going to sit down in the sun among lemon trees (but there is nothing glamorous in it, I share the place with bees who gladly tell them they are there)

For you who are more curious about the project We share vocal cords then I talk a little more about the pictures on my instagram @banstrom. In swedish, but hey – Instagram can translate it for you. For example, what I like about them myself, why they are taken and when.

A story about when a plant became my least friend (one of the bands songs is called similar, in swedish).

Incidentally, I like that mixture of hard with soft, or straight with organic. The balance can be interesting to investigate. It’s also a opportunity to influence the images story by weighing more for one or the other way.

Even though the image is made on an island in the Mediterranean, I think it can represent a Swedish spring. It’s a little unsteady. Maybe the snow will come back. And so it starts smelling shit on the streets, because of not responsible dog owners.

But the only thing that smelled shit here was one of the dogs who chose to roll themselves in cowhide. Spa treatment she thought. Not me.

/ Therese, who welcomes spring but let the fireplace work for some more days

I went to Venice with a friend in the summer of 2017. In the bathroom, where we lived, a painting was hanging with such an incredibly polished female body. A grape cluster was placed in front of the sex. Water droplets caressed the female body. No body hair – of course. Not a single slight defect in the skin.

It made me do the same thing, though the opposite.

So I do not want to give the term “gender” a “wtf”, but to society. Or, to Italy.

The image was made (not just because I was provoked by the image in the bathroom) to belong to the series “We share vocal cords“.

My experience is that we spend a lot of time on body language in art context (and in conversations with others, pictures in social media and … yes, always). Right now I am thinking mainly of placement of bodies; if someone is standing up and the other is sitting down, it sits in a lower position. In any case, when pictures and photography are discussed in connection with Orientalism. Thus – really – how the image of Europe was created through Africa in the 19th century.

So, I sat down on the floor and got stuck there. The light flowed in through diffused windows. You know, like that wavy glass blocks sometimes used in bathrooms to shield showers or the like.

There lies dog hair – or cat hair – under the cable. As if it wants to stay and not letting go. Holds hard. Then I see the plaster on my arm. What I forgot to remove last night after a blood test.

Certainly, standing and sitting positions can be used as abuse of power. But, when sitting on the floor (or the ground), it gets so much closer to life in some way. Sit down and test. Look around.

/Therese, who brought out the vacuum cleaner and fired up the plaster in the stove (or no, I probably haven’t vacuumed there yet)

You can’t think of anything else. All focus is required. Otherwise, something unplanned may happen.

Iceland is, however, too cold for my taste – albeit incredibly beautiful. So I longed back to the Mediterranean, where much time has been spent lately.

I have since then helped others with their horses. I have got to know how it is when horses
getting old,
left to die,
are going to be trained,
being stolen,
throw away me,

and much more. But mainly how they give me energy.

The image

With a slight concussion I stepped on in my own tracks. The bruise made others laugh, when I limped forward or had a hard time sitting. The image above is part of a photo project I have been working on when I studied at the Academy Valand last year.

Hearts stop beating

Yep, that’s how the photo project is called. I do not know if I will ever dare to show it in non-closed rooms. But I continue to work on. Because I think it can end in something good.

The photo project starts in a fear of getting children. A few lines from my artist statement:

During a summer, the animals reminded me of my horrors. The dog lost its puppies and the horses were stolen. Maybe my future children, your children or someone else’s children will disappear. Or it will never happen, because it isn’t possible to get children.

Or, I dare to show it. But only the first verse is written. And maybe a little in between. The idea is that it will be a trilogy. Images from the first and second parts:

/Therese, who just turned 30 and look forward to being more active here than before 💃🏼

On Tuesday the work We share vocal cords was released – music by Cornelia Arvidsson and photos by me. For several years I have photographed with Cornelia’s music in my ears. It has been emotional. Very. I’ve listened to the music in a way I’ve never done before.

Our work

When we met, we fell in love in each other’s way of creating music and images. On Tuesday, Cornelia and her band released a vinyl that comes with an accompanying photo book. I’m so proud for this.

Thoughts about the photo book

Two main challenges were: 1. Knowing how to photograph and 2. the format. I needed to take the music properly and find a story. At the same time as I’m going to get along with music, I need to dig in myself to interpret what I hear, read and see.

A few words about: Dig in the music

With “we share voice bands” I see a family relationship – you share blood with someone; you share DNA with someone; You have inherited genes. The bans name “Jag tycker jag är vacker” (in Swedish: “I think i’m beautiful”) has helped me questioning and concluding what’s beautiful. And maybe you’ve seen the pictures and think “beautiful – how??”. But beautiful to me is when something is shaped as it is (or as I want it to be).

A few words about: The format

Cornelia texts are fragile, honest and give me a punch in the stomach. In a positive way. I get affected, but strengthened. I wanted to reflect that in the format. Therefore, the newspaper was a way with its crisp and thin paper, transformed by a strong jute band. To see everythign you have to interact with the magazine. Hold it up against a light source or concentrated extra to read the captions. Similarly, I have collaborated with Cornelia’s music. The papers are sewn together and jutebanden has stamped together, with the aim of achieving the feeling of a craft – like music.

Oh, I can talk about “We share vocal bands” forever. Just like all parents can about their children. But I stop here. For now.

Live band with more than music

Wow what live band. I just want more. The biggest happiness was the live performance. I sat there and just enjoyed their music. It goes straight into the bones and moves around. I want to see them live again. You can listen to them here:

/Therese, which is now back on the farm among all the animals and banana trees rustling in the wind

🎷🗞📖 The work is in 100 copies where vinyl and magazine come together (all in Swedish). Send an email to me or Cornelia to get one for 200 sek.

During the work of Nothing to hide, an extremely important output has emerged: the importance of speaking mental health. That is why I and Ylme (the brutally beatiful-ugly figure that will be in service) are working on an app that will support the ability to speak out.